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Tag Archives: sparrow

We have a lot of snow falling this winter and keeping the birds well fed seem more important than ever. It feels wonderful to observe how they fly all over the garden, chase each other and search for seed, suet and mealworm under the snow.

Last Thursday a flock of fieldfares payed a visit to nibble on the berries. They arrived in a huge flock and I could not help but open the window to listen out for their calls.

As you listen imagine soft, thick layer of snow, cold, dry air smelling of pine and frost and bright red berries disappearing in the sharp beaks of the birds.

On the personal note, fieldfares remind me of Kraków. I see a lot of them in the parks all around the city when I visit. They occasionally visit my garden here in Scotland but never before in such numbers. The day I did this recording was special for me. I learned that my Grandad (who lived in Kraków) passed away. He loved watching and feeding birds, something I’ve got from him. The day of his death this huge flock arrived in the garden and many fieldfares sat on the trees surrounding my house. It happened only this one time and felt truly moving and mystical. Slavic folklore associates birds with ancestors. Birds carry messages from the dead and help to travel to the underworld.